LETTER XVII

To the Same

He instructs Rainald, who was too anxious and
distrustful, respecting the duty of superior which had been conferred upon him;
and warns him that he must bestow help and solace upon his brethren rather than
require it from them.

To his very dear son, Rainald, Abbot of
Foigny, Bernard, that God may give him the spirit of
strength.

1. You complain, my very dear son, of your many tribulations,
and by your pious complaints you excite me also to complain, for I am not able
to feel that you are sorrowing without sharing your sorrow, nor can I be
otherwise than troubled and anxious when I hear of your troubles and anxieties.
But since I foresaw these very difficulties which you say have happened to you,
and predicted them to you, if you remember—it seems to me that you ought to be
better prepared to endure them, and to spare me vexation when you can, For am I
not sufficiently
67tried, and more than sufficiently, to lose you, not to
see you, nor to enjoy your society, which was so pleasant to me; so that I have
almost regretted that I should have sent you away from me. And although charity
obliged me to send you, yet not being able to see you where you have been sent,
I mourn you as if lost to me. When, then, besides this, you who ought to be the
staff of my support, belabour me as it were with the rod of your
faintheartedness, you heap sorrow upon sorrow, and torment upon torment; and if
it is a mark of your filial affection towards me that you do not hide any of
your difficulties from me, yet it is hard to add fresh trouble to one already
burdened. Why is it needful to occupy with fresh anxieties one already more than
anxious enough, and to torture with sharper pains the bosom of a father, already
wounded by the absence of his son? I have shared with you my weight of cares, as
a son, as an intimate friend, as a trusty assistant; but how do you help to bear
your father’s burden, if, instead of relieving me, you burden me still more?
You, indeed, are loaded, but I am not lightened of my load.

2. For this burden is that of sick and weak souls. Those who
are in health do not need to be carried, and are not, therefore, a burden.
Whomsoever, then, of your brethren you shall find sad, mean-spirited,
discontented, remember well that it is of these and for their sakes, you are
father and abbot. In consoling, in exhorting, in reproving, you do your duty,
you bear your burden; and those whom you bear in order to cure, you will cure by
bearing. But if any one is in such spiritual health that he
68rather helps you than is helped by you, recognize that
to him you are not father and abbot, but equal and friend. Do not complain if
you find more trials than consolations from those among whom you are. You were
sent to sustain and console others, because you are spiritually stronger and
better able to bear than they, and because with the grace of God you are able to
aid and sustain all without needing yourself to be aided and sustained by any.
Finally, if the burden is great, so also is the reward; but, on the other hand,
the more assistance you receive, the more your own reward is diminished. Choose,
therefore; if you prefer those who are for you a burden, your merit will be the
greater; but if, on the contrary, you prefer those who console you, you have no
merit at all. The former are the source whence it arises for you; the second as
the abyss in which it is swallowed up; for it is not doubtful that those who are
partakers of the labour, will be also sharers of the reward. Knowing, then, that
you were sent to help, not to be helped, bear in mind that you are the vicar of
Him who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. I could have wished to
write at greater length, in order to comfort you, but that it was not necessary;
for what need is there of filling a dead leaf with superfluous words, while the
living voice is speaking? I think that when you have seen our prior, these words
will be sufficient for you, and your spirit will revive at his presence, so that
you will not require the consolation of written words, in the delight and help
which his discourse will give you. Do not doubt that I have communicated to him,
as far as was possible, my inmost
69mind, which you begged in your letters might be sent to
you. For you know well that he and I are of one mind and one will.